{SP/F1} First Steps, New Beginnings

[Zenurik 0]

 

OK. I can do this. It's just walking, I can do this. Zen inhaled slowly as the mantra ran through his mind. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring down at his legs as his feet rested on the smooth wooden floor of the inn he was staying in. The repetition in his mind was something he was trying to need less as the days had turned into weeks, into months, but even now there were mornings when he just couldn't believe that he actually could stand, and walk. 

He pushed himself to his feet, gritting his teeth for a moment when he swayed unsteadily. But the moment passed, and Zenurik was still standing. He let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding, then shook himself to settle his body and nerves. Not once since he had joined this game had his digitized legs failed him, but the dissonance between what he knew his body was like outside, and what he could do inside, continued to jar him. Still - he was up, now, past that initial moment of concern and disbelief. 

"So! Time to get cracking." The sturdily built man rolled his neck and shoulders before flicking his wrist to bring up his context menu, searching for the mission chain that he was wanting to start. As he scrolled through his options he paused to finish equipping his gear, then started out of the starter inn, his eyes darting back and forth to keep a watch out as he browsed for the quest-giver's location. Now where was it…. 
 

 

 

Zenurik: 

Level: 1

HP: 20

EN: 2

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

The small shop was quaint and unassuming as Zenurik approached it. He could see through one window of the shop, into the interior where a wide variety of little glass bottles and herbs were arrayed on shelves, displayed proudly for the world to see. It reminded the tall man of a game he used to play when he was younger, and for a moment he closed his eyes and let nostalgia wash over him. A bright smile stretched his lips before he pushed into the store. 

"Greetings and salutations!" He boomed as he looked around, making the old man at the counter jump slightly as he peered up towards Zenurik. 

"You're a loud one, aren't you lad?" The old man stroked his beard as he studied Zen. Zenurik, for part, looked a bit sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that's alright, we take all kinds here in Aincrad. Now then I take it you're here to get familiarized with some of how things work around here lad? Excellent, excellent!" He pressed on when Zenurik nodded. "For your first task, I need you to head out into the fields and collect some herbs. Five should do to get you started, yes. Come back when you've got them." Zen waited a moment to see if the man would say anything else, but he was quiet, returning his attention to the thick, musty tome on the counter in front of him. With a shrug, Zen headed back out, making his way towards the gates nearest that he knew about. 
 

[Zenurik 0]

The local fields around the Town of Beginnings were teeming with people and wildlife. Zen could see other players trying out new Sword Arts against mobs, and NPCs who were plying their trades as they went about their daily trades. He took a moment to breathe in deeply as he watched - the fresh scent of the fields filling his nose as he did so. It was strange, in a way - sometimes it was almost easy to forget the looming threat hanging over their heads. A bright, sunny morning like this was relaxing. The tall dark haired man shook himself, pulling out of that train of thought.

“Alright, so. Five herbs of some variety, though the old man didn’t actually say what kind they had to be. I hope it doesn’t actually matter.” Zenurik rubbed his chin as he frowned, realizing that he hadn’t asked the old man for any details. He’d actually forgotten to ask the alchemist’s name in the first place, and didn’t remember what the plate above his head had said. With a shrug, Zen started slowly walking through the fields himself, trying to stay out of other people’s way as he looked for something that caught his eye. Without any skills to help in searching, this was mostly going to be down to luck. 
 

[Zenurik 0]

Zenurik frowned and rubbed the back of his head as he looked around the area. So far, he had yet to see anything that wasn’t weeds, or tall grass. And while he knew that there were some odd cases where weeds could be used as herbal ingredients for some home remedies - those were few and far between. And only certain weeds, too. Not these scraggly things that looked like they were half chewed by some rodent, only for the animal to have given up halfway through. These weren’t going to be of any help to him in terms of making any kind of actual curative under the old man’s supervision, that was for sure.

 

“Well, blast.” He had been hoping that he would be able to get this hunt for ingredients done quickly that he would be able to press on to the next stage now, in the same day, but if his luck continued on this way he doubted he would be able to manage that. With a sigh and a rueful smile over his somewhat vain hope, he pressed onwards, sweeping his gaze around as he continued his search. 

 

Loot Check: Fail.

ID Roll:166768

LD Result: 2

LD Required: 11 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

Zenurik found the hole before he saw it, and deeply regretted that fact. His foot plunged into the gap in the ground, sinking up to his mid calf on the right before he found purchase in the hole. With a startled oath he fell downwards, toppling over and hitting the grass beneath him. The fall ripped his leg back out of the hole, tearing up the loose soil around it in the process. For a moment the large man just laid there, a shiver running down his spine as he suppressed the bolt of fear he'd experienced when his leg didn't work right in that moment. 

"Just a hole in the ground, I'm fine, I'm fine." It had been more of a surprise than anything else - his HP bar hadn't even dipped when he fell. Zen rolled over and started to push himself up - only to pause in mid-motion as he spotted a small cluster of vivid red berries staring at him, nestled under a clump of grass. If he hadn't been looking from ground level, he might have missed them altogether. With a rueful laugh he pushed himself up to a kneeling position, then reached out and picked up the berries. His passive identification was weak, and could only tell him these were herbs - and he promptly dubbed them 'widowsweep', chuckling to himself as he tucked them into his inventory. 

 

 

Loot Check Success

Id:166842

LD Result: 19

LD Required: 11+ 

[/spo iler] 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

After brushing the dirt from his legs and stomach, Zenurik stood back up and adjusted his clothes, settling them back into place from his fall. Well, while the fall had been disconcerting - and a bit frightening for personal reasons - it had worked out well for him in the end. Now the axe-wielder just needed to find four more herbs and he would be able to head back and get started on the next stage of the quest. Or, sleeping, if he took too long. 

 

Zenurik slowly started pacing around, his eyes sweeping back and forth amongst the grassy stalks. He was looking to see if he could spot more of the red berries buried beneath clumps of grass - but nothing caught his eye as he expanded his search area. His boots crunched on the dried grass beneath his feet as he trod onwards, moving towards a different area to see if he'd have more luck over there. To his untrained eye at least, this area had been picked clean of useful herbs. 

 

 

 

 

Loot Check: Fail

ID Number: 166843

LD Result 1

LD Required:[/b] 11+

[/ spoiler] 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

The sun was starting to beat down from high overhead as Zenurik moved through the field, his eyes still sweeping back and forth as he looked for more herbal ingredients. At this point he had started to move away from the walls of the town, and every so often his hand strayed to the haft of his axe - he did not want to be caught off guard and flat-footed if something decided to try getting the jump on him. But it seemed like he was in luck - maybe because there were others out fighting, and they had drawn all the aggro of the creatures around, but nothing had attacked the tall dark-haired man so far. 

 

Then he saw something that made him pause, and rub his eyes before frowning and tilting his head to one side. "Huh. Wonder if this is just a result of me trying to figure out what herbs are." Sitting on a bush ahead of him was another familiar herb from a game in his childhood. With a shrug he plucked it and tucked the blue root into his inventory then pressed onwards, ruminating over the odd similarities. 

 

 

Loot Check Success 

ID Number: 166888

LD Required: 11+

LD Result:[ /I] 20

 

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

Zenurik winced and pulled his hand away from the bush he had been inspecting. He'd inadvertently found a nettle bush it seemed, and now his hand was stinging from the small spikes that had lanced into his skin. He had gone and gotten his hopes up after finding that blue root hanging from a bush earlier, and had started delving into them, trying to spot another. 

 

But his efforts proved to be in vain. So far he hadn't seen a hint of any of the red berries or the blue roots - the two herbs he had identified so far as actually being useful. He grunted and stood up, straightening out his back, then rubbing his stinging hand with his other thumb. This search was taking longer than he had hoped - but, so far, not as long as he was afraid of. Zenurik adjusted the axe on his back and pressed onwards, looking for more herbs so he could move on to the actual crafting stage of this quest.

 

 

 

Loot Check: Fail

ID number: 166889

LD Required: 11+

LD Result: 5

 

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

Zenurik was starting to head into the woods near the edge of the field at this point as he continued his search for more herbs. It kind of made sense that there weren't that many directly by the town - if there was somewhere that was picked clean and constantly kept that way by the large amounts of people who were doing quests that needed herbs, it was probably right around the safest place here in Aincrad. Hopefully by ranging further away he would have better luck - or at least maybe something interesting would happen, more than just staring at various weeds and plants and hoping they would get tagged as an herb. 

 

Before he actually pressed into the woods though, Zen made sure to look along the edge of the treeline. Old experience taught him that breaks in trees was where a lot of mulch accumulated, which lead to more things growing there. But checking the area along his immediate route yielded nothing that he could actually use - though this time he did see the stinging nettle bush before he shoved his hand inside of it. The dark haired man shook his head with a sigh and pushed his way through the brush, heading into the forest to keep looking. 

 

 

Loot Check: Fail

ID number: 167293

LD Required: 11+

LD Result: 4

 

Quest Material Count: 2

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

"!" Zenurik barely caught himself from tumbling down a slope as he hopped over a fallen tree - the log had obscured the fact that the ground on the other side was far from level. At the last moment he managed to latch his hand onto one of the thicker branches of the fallen tree, and thanked his luck that it hadn't dried out enough to break under his weight. Zen hauled himself back to his feet and onto stable footing, rolling his shoulder after letting go of the branch. The fall wouldn't have been painful, looking at it, but it wouldn't have been pleasant either. 

 

What was pleasant was what he spotted in the ground by his feet, revealed by the soil he had kicked up when he slid. It was another of the oddly familiar blue roots, with the faint yellow tips. Once he was a bit more settled he would have to ask others if they'd had any instances where things resembled items from games they used to play. For now he knelt down, carefully to avoid slipping and losing his find, then plucked the root and tucked it into his inventory. 

 

 

Loot Check: Success

ID number: 167294

LD Required: 11+

LD Result: 20

 

Quest Material Count: 3/5

 

  Edited September 4, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

The air in the forest was growing thicker as Zenurik made his way through the woods, damp with heavy moisture. And there was also a 'fresh' scent - not any specific kind of plant that he could pin the smell to, but more of just an amalgamation, like someone had grabbed a bottle of 'fresh-scented' cleaner and sprayed it around far too liberally. It wasn't offensive to the nose, but it wasn't quite what he'd expected the forest to smell like. Still, the slightly off nature of it suited him just fine for now, as he made his way around a large tree that was easily two or three times his size in width alone. 

 

Zen paused and frowned, a faint memory about something growing near the base of trees bouncing up from the depths of his childhood. He turned and scanned the area around where he was, his eyes darting to and from as he examined his surroundings. He was about to give up and press onwards - or, it might be wiser to start making his way back to town now - when he saw another of those nostalgiacally familiar plants - this one, a bright yellow flower, sitting innocently by the base of the tree he had just circled around. 

 

The large man knelt down and carefully plucked the flower, taking care to leave behind as much of the root system and the rest of the plant as he could. He had no idea if that would actually let this grow back - or, if it would be in truer 'game' fashion, and just vanish and respawn later when he was gone. Either way - he had one more herb, and only needed the last to be done with this stage of his little venture. 

 

 

 

Loot  check: Success

ID number: 180276

LD Required: 11+ 

LD Result: 20

Edited December 18, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

Zenurik let out a long, deeply held breath as he made his way back closer to the edge of the treeline. His little sojourn into the woods had been surprisingly relaxing, even though he had ostensibly been there as part of a job. Despite that, he was definitely glad to be out of the forest - he knew nothing was there, but he hadn't been able to shake the feeling that something had been watching him, the hairs on the back of his neck constantly prickling. But despite how long he spent between the trees, he had never seen hide or hair of another creature - player or otherwise. He hoped that leaving the forest behind him would settle that trace of unease that had been plaguing him, and as the bright light of the sun took over from the trees, he was relieved that that was actually the case. 

As the young man crested a small hill, he paused when he caught sight of a flash of bright red peeking out from between some shrubbery. His eyes widened slightly and he moved over towards it, deviating from the well-trodden path back to town to reach the brush that had caught his attention. He knelt down and reached out, parting the branches and leaves, to reveal a small cluster of vivid red nestled neatly behind them. He waited a moment, and after staring long enough, the system helpfully labeled these as an 'herb' - he had thought this was the same, and thankfully that seemed to be the case. With a grin stretching his lips, he harvested the berries, tucking them safely into his inventory. Now that was all done - he could actually make his way back to Zakariah's shop without worrying too much.

 

Loot Check: Success!

ID Number: 180282

LD Required: 11+

LD Result: 15

Edited December 19, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

The city gate was bustling as Zenurik made his way through, the flow of people keeping things moving as both players and non went about their day. Thankfully he didn't have long to wait in line, the guards checking perfunctorily for crimes registered against him - when the check came back clean he was waved on inside the city. He gave the guard a bright smile and strode on in, his feet carrying him back along the path to Zackariah's shop. 

His boots clicked against the cobbles of the street beneath him as Zen ambled on his route, his eyes sweeping back and forth and taking in the things around him. He had been outside long enough that Aincrad's system had passed to its evening, and some shops that were run by the NPCs were starting to close down. The player-run ones were still doing brisk business though, and he chuckled. Even in a digital world, there were still people who preferred being awake and active at night. 

His musings were cut off when he realized that he had reached his destination. Thankfully, it looked like the old alchemist was one who kept later hours - or, possibly, because he was currently active in the quest chain, Zenurik still had access. Either way, the light inside was on. He pushed into the building, greeting by a fainy chime as a bell rang out above his head. 

"Ah, a prompt return, I did not expect you again for at least another day. Welcome back young man, welcome back. I trust your trip was fruitful?" Zen smiled easily as Zack's voice cam from the back as the old man stepped into sight. 

"It was! Found a few good herbs to try my luck with."

"Excellent! Let's get to it, shall we?" 

[Zenurik 0]

Setting up to make the potion was actually much simpler than Zenurik had anticipated. Zackariah provided him with a pot that had a simmer clear liquid inside of it, one that had a faintly pungent odor. 

"Go ahead and steep one of your herbs in here. This is an alchemical base I've already prepared for this potion." Zenurik took the pot, grateful that this step at least had already been completed for him. He settled it onto the stove under Zack's watchful eye, then pulled one of the herbs out of his inventory. 

 

Curious if form would fit what he expected, he took out one of the blue and yellow-tipped roots from his storage. The root was dropped into simmering pot, and following Zackariah's guidance he took a wooden spatula and slowly stirred the root around. The base dissolved the herb, and as it did an acrid stench hit their noses.

 

"Well, that did not work right!" Sweeping past Zen, the alchemist scooped up the pot and took it over to a metal bin, which he dumped the contents into hurriedly. 

 

 

 

Craft Check Fail

 

CD Req: 4+

 

CD Result 3

 

  Edited December 28, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

That had definitively not gone as expected. At least, it hadn't gone the way that Zenurik had hoped - it had actually gone pretty much as he expected. He didn't know what the blue root could be used for here in Aincrad, but from his old familiarity, it most certainly wasn't a healing potion. He hummed in thought as Zackariah's tried to reassure him that he was capable of making a potion. 

"Ah - right." It would probably help to tell the old alchemist that he was fine and wasn't disheartened by this turn of events. "Can't get them all right in one go, right? I think the next one will go better." Zen pulled the sets of red berries from his inventory, comparing the two for a moment. The berries on one branch seemed brighter in color and, in a way that was hard to pinpoint, plumper, than the other. 

Trusting his gut on this, Zenurik went with that set of berries, placing the other bundle to the side. Zackariah had brought over another batch of base liquid while Zen was mulling over his options, and the young man promptly plucked the berries from their branch and dropped them into the simmering pot before he could second guess himself. 

Slowly stirring the concoction, Zenurik watched with a held breath as the berries began to dissolve into the clear liquid, gradually turning it a pinkish hue. As his wooden spatula swirled around the mix, more dissolved. A faint scent of strawberries and cherries filled the air as Zackariah peered over Zen's shoulder at the pot. Finally, he reached over and turned off the heat, and had Zenurik carefully pour the mix into a glass bottle. 

"Congratulations, lad, you've got yourself quite the perfect potion if I do say so myself. I'll take the rest of the herbs off your hands." With a wide smile, Zenurik happily handed the materials over. 

 

 

ID# 180572 results: 

 

 Battle: 5

 

 Craft: 12 

 

 Loot: 11

 

 MOB: 9

 

CD Required: 4+.

 

Result: Perfect Quality Success! 

 

  Edited December 29, 2020 by Zenurik

[Zenurik 0]

"Alright, you can set that bottle over here to finish cooling, your work on it is done." Zackariah watched as Zenurik followed his directions, then snapped his fingers. "Now! You managed to get a couple interesting herbs here, and you have plenty left over to help me with restocking for some experiments. I'd say that deserves a reward. Hold on one moment, young man." Zen lifted one eyebrow as the alchemist disappeared into one of the small rooms connected to the room they were brewing in. He had honestly been expecting, at most, to keep the potion that he had created as part of the quest, but it looked like that wasn't how this was set up. 

A few moments later Zackariah returned, carrying a small brown leather pouch. From inside of it Zen could hear the clinking of glass. The old man held the bag out, but when Zenurik reached out, he lifted it out of the way, his eyes twinkling. 

"One last thing." He planted a small package, tied shut with a frayed cord, into Zen's outstretched hand. "Save an old man some walking, and deliver this to the blacksmith, Lyle, would you?" Zen quirked his lips in a bemused smile. 

"I'd be happy to." 

"Excellent! These are yours, then, but do be careful. Replacing them might be annoying for you." The final part of the task accepted, the alchemist handed the other pouch over. Zen pushed both into his inventory, and with a bow, set out. 

[Zenurik 0]

As Zenurik followed along the streets, making his way to the blacksmith's shop, curiosity slowly stole over him. He pulled up his inventory and flicked through it to find the little pouch that the alchemist had given him - he had no interest in the package he entrusted to deliver; but the contents of his reward intrigued him. From the sounds it had made when Zackariah had given it to him Zen knew there was glass in it, but, what did that glass hold? 

"Huh." He probably should have expected the reward to be locked - he hadn't actually finished the quest yet. That was an interesting little tidbit. Well, there wasn't anything else he could do about it right now, because he had a feeling that if he tried manually breaking into the bag he'd find the quest invalidated. At best he'd have to start over - at worst, he'd be locked out of the quest and its subsequent chain. Best not to risk that particular fate, he felt. With a shrug he closed down his inventory screen and kept walking. 

 

[Zenurik 0]

Zenurik walked along the cobbled paths, the heels of his boots clicking against them as he made his way through the town. In a way, he reveled in the sound - a part of himself had been afraid he would never hear something like his own gait again. It was such a small thing, but one he found himself cherishing despite everything attached to the whole situation. 

 

He had taken the time to familiarize himself with some of the notable locations that were easy to find, so he wasn't in danger of getting lost in the town. But the sun was setting, and the streets were definitely getting darker as he made his way through them. Thankfully people - both npcs and players - were lighting lamps, casting a warm glow across the people passing beneath them. The lights were also usually illuminating signs for whichever shop they were hanging by, which in the end made it easier for Zen to actually tell when he'd reached Lyle's shop. 

 

[Zenurik 0]

The bell above the door chimed as Zenurik pushed his way into the shop. The smell of burning metal and smoke hit his nose, and for a moment the man stumbled as the scent sent memories rolling through his brain. His fingers curled around the wood of the door, helping him right himself as he held against the rush of jumbled emotions that came with those memories. He hadn't expected just walking into a smithy would do something like this to him - if he had, he might have tried to prepare himself a bit before just strolling in. 

"Ay, lad, you alright there?" A strident voice cut through the fog that had swamped Zenurik, and he blinked his eyes twice before rubbing them with the back of one hand. There was an older gentlemen staring at him from behind a counter. He had a brown leather apron on, scarred by years fire and smoke. 

"I - yes. Yes, sorry." Zen shook his head, focusing on the here and now rather than the past. "Sorry about that sir. Ahem. Would you happen to be Lyle, the blacksmith?" Even with a nameplate hanging over the smith's head, Zenurik felt it polite to actually ask. 

 

[Zenurik 0]

"Yea, that'd be me, Lyle the Smith." The man leaned against the counter and propped one arm up on it so he could rest his chin on his palm as he looked d over at Zenurik. "Now, what'd a strapping young lad like yourself be looking for me for? I doubt you're in the mood to buy right now." Zen unconsciously shifted slightly, rocking back on his feet. It was true that he wasn't exactly swimming in col right now - he'd been far too reticent about hunting and doing quests for that - but it was still a bit disconcerting for the NPC to call him out like that. 

"That axe on your back looks like it's in fine condition after all." Zenurik's eyes widened as he realized what Lyle had actually been referring to. Shaking his head at the conclusion he'd jumped to, Zen smiled brightly. 

"No, you're right about that, I'm not here to shop." The smith waved his free hand for Zenurik to continue.